The Laws of Love
by Rune Valentine
Summary: [Upsidedown redone] Rukawa falls in love with the daughter of a Japanese tycoon. Chaos ensuses for the whole Shohoku population, and the whole of Japan. [Multiple Pairings: RukawaOC, soon to come RyoAya, SendohHaruko O.o]
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Complete revamp and re-do of the old "Upside-down". It's the same concept, different approach. Darkness XI is out of hiatus, and is back with a vengeance.

Disclaimer: I do not own Slam dunk. I am merely a sad little person who has a lot of time to waste on fan fiction.

Warning: Absolutely Out Of Character! Not for die-hard Rukawa fans.

**The Laws of Love  
By Darkness XI**

CHAPTER ONE  
_Falling for the new girl isn't easy,_

It was early in the morning, the autumn breeze was blowing through the school grounds of Shohoku High, with the busy buzz of the population occupying its premises: teenagers chattering away, students coming and going through the school gates, teachers doing their last minute lesson plans.

This was pretty much a normal day for Shohoku High, but it was not a normal day for Year 1 class 10 because they were having a new student arrive from the U.S. that morning. A loud squeak broke everyone's daily rituals, and had turned their attention to its source. Two black cars pulled over hastily, as if coming from a sharp turn, and then a black limo, followed by another two black cars.

All free heads turned to the gate where all the commotion was. They saw a man in a black suit open the door of the limo. A full head of strawberry-blonde hair emerged from the limo, a girl who was about five foot nine, with light royal-blue eyes; although there seemed to be a shadow in her stare. She walked into the school without much acknowledgement to the stares of her new schoolmates.

Rukawa Kaede, who was riding his bike to school, noticed the fuss. He stopped for a moment and noticed a girl slowly making her way into school. He barely stared at her for more than a second, diverted his gaze, and started pedaling his way to school once more.

The man in the black suit escorted her to her classroom. As she entered the room, there were "oohs" and "aahs" from most of the people in the room. Rukawa, who was as usual, sleeping on his desk, slowly lifted his head off his desk just to see what was going on. Then, he saw her, the same girl he saw earlier that morning. He couldn't fall back asleep now. Not now when the only empty seat was the seat at his beside him. All he could do was hold his head up with one arm as the teacher introduced her.

"Her name is Katakura Kim," Oota-sensei introduced "Heiress to the multi-billion dollar company, Katakura Industries." Kim glared at Oota-sensei, at the mention of her family company, then at the class, who were obviously awed by her wealth. "Would you like to say something to the class?" _I hate new fking schools._ She gave another glare that could make Egypt snow, but didn't say anything. After a long silence, Oota-sensei gave Kim a little nudge, and she finally uttered a word. "Hey," and raised her left hand like she was saying 'Hi' but the hand didn't wave

"You may take that seat beside Rukawa," gesturing at the empty seat at the far end of the room beside the window. As Rukawa noticed that she was walking towards him, he felt his heart start beating like a little bunny, and he was having difficulty keeping his sleepy head up. All of this however, was hidden quite well behind his ice-cold mask. "Hey," he greeted, tonelessly. He wouldn't usually care about people, but this girl had a certain intrigue to her that even Shohoku's Ace could resist. "Hey," she answered, as tonelessly as Rukawa.

As soon as she sat down, Oota-sensei started babbling about WWII. Kim took out a notebook and a pen and started jotting down notes as the sensei spoke. Rukawa thought of sleeping this lecture off, but something told him to stay awake and start jotting down notes to make a good first impression. _Huh? A good first impression? Where did that come from? _Whatever it was, he shook it off, lay his head on the desk, and started dozing off.

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_**Especially when you don't pay close attention.**_

Recess came, all the students rushed out of their classrooms to either talk to their friends, catch up on forgotten homework or just simply eat. Even though the bell already rang, there were still two students left in the classroom of Year 1 Class 10. One was Kim Katakura who was busy arranging her schedule in her palm-top and the other was Rukawa Kaede who was asleep with his arms swinging along the sides of his table and a puddle of drool forming beneath his mouth. _Should I wake him up or leave him like that. It seems to me that this 'Rukawa' person is very popular with girls. I guess I see why..._ He did look kind of cute while asleep in that position. _While asleep _she thought. _Except probably for that pool of drool…_ She smiled at herself for making such an observation.

_Maybe I should wake him. He doesn't seem well rested like that anyway. He could find a better position if I wake him._ She started tapping on his left shoulder and he started to toss a bit. When he finally opened his eyes, all he saw was Kim packing away her palm-top and ready to leave. "Wait," he said, ever so coldly. "Why did you wake me up?" Rukawa inquired, quite groggy. "Recess" she answered coolly, while pointing at the wall clock in the room. It had not been a habit of hers to be verbose in conversations.

He started to stand up as Kim went out the door. Rukawa followed her lead and went out the door too. "Need help?" he asked, his voice tipping over and gave a hint of his feelings. "Nope," she said this as she turned to the way of the main exit where the man in the black suit was, holding a black bag that contained her laptop. Kim got her laptop, and then moved over to the steps of the Year 1 building. All the while she was wondering where her seatmate had gone off to. _Probably to find somewhere to sleep_, she thought to herself as she started typing away on her laptop.

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**_When you go out of your way for her_**

At the rooftop of the Year 1 building, a sleeping Rukawa is laying on the floor, all stretched out, looking as comfortable as you can get when you sleep on the floor. He wasn't sleeping though; he was just lying there, wondering where Kim had disappeared to. He was lying there, wondering where Kim disappeared to. For a while, he just lay there, barely dozing off. After some time, Rukawa finally got up and went down from the rooftop, making his through the halls, where screams of "Kawaii!" could be heard in its ear-splitting pitch.

He was used to this though, most of the school's female population would be at his beck and call the moment he would ask. _That's what makes her different, h_e thought. He was right. Any girl would die for a chance to actually talk to Rukawa. Just before he got to the rooftop, he actually **offered** help to a girl and she **_declined_**!

After wandering aimlessly through the halls, he finally spotted Kim outside the glass doors of the building. He approached the door and opened it. Kim turned her attention to the door to see who it was. "You," she said coldly "What are you doing here?" she asked with a nasty glare on her face. "Time to go," he answered coolly. She stood up, without a word, put her laptop back in the bag, handed it to the man in the suit. "Bring my stuff later this afternoon, Peter." The man in the black suit just nodded, walked into one of the cars that were there earlier that morning, and drove off.

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_**But she doesn't really seem to notice you**_

After classes, Rukawa immediately rushed out of the classroom. _Wonder where he's off to..._ Kim wondered. She too had to rush off somewhere. She had to go to the gym where the basketball team practiced. As she entered the gym, all eyes turned to her direction. All the guys' noses started bleeding (figuratively, of course) when they saw her. Everyone noticed how her body curved in just the right places, her legs were lengthy but not skinny, and her hair was curled only so much that it didn't looked too disheveled.

Miyagi Ryota, who was utterly devoted to his beloved Ayako, could not divert his gaze from this beautiful girl. Akagi Takenori, the team's Captain could not hold himself off either, even Kogure who seemed to have the most will power in the team could only stare at her until his glasses fogged up.

"Is Anzai-sensei here?" She asked, in her usual cold tone. A girl with curly hair tied in a pony tail answered her, "He's right over there" pointing at a white haired man sitting on the bench. "Oh ho ho ho. It's you!" he exclaimed as she approached him. "Yeah" she answered coldly. "I hear you're here to help the team?" He inquired. "Yes," she answered, without much thought.

"Okay, introduce yourself to the team" Anzai-sensei called for the team and she introduced herself. She was too mad at Peter for being late with her clothes to notice that one of her classmates was actually in the gym with her. "Katakura Kim, 178 cm, I play any position" she introduced, with no enthusiasm at all. Truthfully, she loved the game, but speaking enthusiastically in public was not her favorite thing to do.

Finally, there was a man standing in front of the door and Rukawa's fan girls stepped out of the way to let him in. He was about to enter when Kim said, "Shoes, off." pointing at Peter's shoes. Peter immediately took off his shoes, entered the room and handed a sports bag to Kim. "You're late." She said, as she took the bag. Peter left with his head down, but without a word. Kim made her way to the locker room to change.

When she got back, she got the attention once again. Her little black sports shorts were riding up just a little too high, and her shirt was just a little too tight. "Do your warm-ups, after which you can pick someone you want a one-on-one with." Anzai-sensei said. She did what she was told and finished her warm-ups. Just after her warm-ups, she finally noticed Rukawa who was shooting some baskets. "Pick someone, Katakura." the coach told her. "Him," she pointed at Rukawa, who just shrugged and made his way near Kim.

Mitsui was the referee and was starting the tip-off. _Boy, she must be crazy. This guy isn't a regular player. He plays like a monster, _he thought to himself. The ball was high in the air, but Kim got hold of it anyway. Rukawa immediately ran towards her and guarded her, playing it cool. He thought that a girl was no match for him. He was wrong. By the end of the game, he finally realized it. He lost painfully to the new girl that intrigued him.

"I hear you played for America's All Star Team." Anzai-sensei pointed out. "Yup, won three times," she answered, still with no enthusiasm.

"All..." Mitsui trailed off "Star..." Miyagi followed "Team..." Ayako finished. They were stunned. Never before had they heard that a girl had even been considered in joining them. Kogure was the first to introduce himself, "My name is Kiminobu Kogure. I'm the co-captain of the team," Kogure looked over to Akagi, signaling him to follow. "Akagi Takenori, I'm the team captain," the captain followed. "Miyagi Ryota, point guard" "Mitsui Hisashi, shooting guard." and the rest of the team introduced themselves, but a certain red-head didn't. He just stood there, mumbling something like "Stupid girl! Could've picked me instead of that Kitsune" "And that's Sakuragi Hanamichi over there." Anzai-sensei pointed at him. "Ah, ha ha ha ha! Finally, you've noticed the Basketball Tensai, Sakuragi Hanamichi!" He exclaimed, in his usual gloating manner. "Yeah, right" she said softly, but loud enough to be heard by the people near her.

"Do 'ahou," Rukawa sighed in his usual nonchalant manner. "Got that right," Kim remarked, smiling just a little bit at the thought of Rukawa's taunting. "Baka, kitsune! Bakemono!" Sakuragi replied quite angrily. "Call me that again and I'm going to have to hurt you," she threatened. _'Call' one, 'me', two, 'that', four, 'again', five, 'and', six, 'I'm', seven, 'going', eight, 'to', nine, 'have', ten, 'to', eleven, 'hurt', twelve, 'you', thirteen. Thirteen words in one sentence, good god. And what did I just say? _Kim thought. "Shit!" she said silently, but out loud. Heads turned to her direction one more time as she cursed in her own tongue.

"Okay team, practice!" Akagi commanded, and the team followed. Kim went to the benches, sat and thought very, very hard. _What's happening to me? Why am I actually speaking to these people? And did I just communicate with the team members? Wait a minute, why am I thinking of HIM? Rukawa…What? Why am I even thinking of my seatmate anyway? One must not think such things._ And she just sat there thinking and thinking of many strange things happening to her in just one day. _Damn it… _"Oh fk it all!" she cursed under her breath, but still audible enough to the team members.

No one bothered though, except Rukawa, who had diverted his attention from the game to Kim. There was a loud thud, coming from the basketball hitting the side of Rukawa's head. Rukawa's fan girls come rushing in. Kim looked over to what was happening. She felt like she had some obligation to help him out. _Oh, what the hell._ She immediately stood up and went to aid the fallen Rukawa. "Hey, get up," she said, in her usual tone, then extending an arm at her classmate, helping him up.

"Th…" Rukawa started, but could not finish thanking Kim because by the time Rukawa had gotten on his feet, Kim had gone back to the benches.

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_**She's either too stuck up**_

After practice, Kim was speaking to Ayako. "Contact me in my cel. The home phone is pretty hard to get through." she told Ayako. Kim always knew what was most likely to consume less time. She knew just how important time was. Like in basketball, every second counts. She believes so, too, in life. That's why she hated guys that drool over her. They didn't make much sense in her life so why bother wasting time on those fools when she can talk to someone sensible: Rukawa for example. He might not say much, but he did make a lot of sense on those three or four words he utters every now and then.

Once Ayako received Kim's business card, Kim went straight out to her car which drove her home. On her way home though, right before the last curve to her house she spotted Rukawa riding his bike, looking half asleep, with his bike looking like he rammed it into twelve-wheeler. She told the driver to slow down and he did. Peter objected at first but was unable to sway Kim. She opened her window, "Hey, need a ride home?" she yelled from her window. He nodded silently as Kim told her driver to stop. Kim let herself out of the car and helped Rukawa with putting his bike (or what was left of it) away in the trunk.

Rukawa held the door open for Kim to get in, and then entered the car himself. "Thanks," he said, gratefully. "No problem, Rukawa." She said, half smiling, with her gaze away from Rukawa's eyes. "So where should we take you?" Kim asked, "you can't live far. This is the farthest we can go."

Strangely enough, the only other house that was not Kim's was Rukawa's house. It was on the remote end of town and only two houses fit the vast landscape. Kim noticed that fact and quickly acknowledged it. "So you live _there,_" Kim said, pointing at the huge house at a distance. "You can drop me off at the corner." Rukawa replied, preparing to leave. "Don't be silly, it'd be rude of me not to take you directly home" Rukawa tried to fight it, but Kim won eventually.

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_**Or is totally into you too.**_

"No way..." she mumbled as she looked out the window. "No way..." she repeated. "What do you mean 'no way'?" Rukawa asked. "Look," Kim said, pointing out the window. "My dad." She said briefly, before clasping her hands on her face. "Your dad," he repeated, "Let me guess, the woman is not your mother." Rukawa noticed Kim sobbing lightly, "How dare he!" Kim yelled softly in her hands. "So he is cheating on your mother?" He asked quietly. "Its…" she wiped away what was left of her tears, and regained her composure. "It's nothing." She answered coldly, straightening herself out. "Brian, you see that other house on the side of the hill? We'll go there," Kim ordered her driver and remained silent for the rest of their trip.

The car pulled over and Rukawa was about to get off. "My mother, she passed away." Kim whispered. "What was that again?" Rukawa could only make out a few words from what Kim had just said. "My mother passed away, my father isn't cheating." Rukawa didn't know how to respond to this, all he could do was nod and utter a small "Okay."

He looked at Kim, for barely a second, searched her eyes, and for that one moment, her eyes were filled with sadness, and she expressed it without much suppression. "I…" she stuttered, "I…" Rukawa exited without much consolation. _She'll be fine, _he thought to himself as he made his way into his house.

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Author's Notes: I said major story revamps. After 5 years of hiatus, what do you expect? More to come.

Much love,  
D.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Laws of Love  
By Darkness XI**

**CHAPTER Two  
Part One  
_When you go by her home_**

Kim entered her house that night with many thoughts in her mind. _My father! With a hussy! And this is not the first time!_ She was full of rage, and the sound of their laughter echoing through the halls of her home just made her angrier. _What in the world is he thinking bringing that woman into our home! If only…_

Her chain of thought was broken by the knocking on her door. "Miss Kim, a friend is here to see you" her butler informed her. _A friend? But I haven't any._ "I'll be right down" she answered, getting up from her bed, and making her way down.

Standing by the stairs was her classmate, Rukawa Kaede, looking handsome in his plain clothes. "Rukawa? What are you doing here?" she inquired, her voice hinting confusion. "It was rude of me to leave without thanks." He said apologetically. "Would you like to come over for dinner?" he asked her softly, "It's the least I can do." The sound of the woman's laughter was all Kim needed to agree to dinner with Rukawa. "Alright, let me get my coat" she answered bitterly, while making her way to the coat rack. She grabbed her phone and her palm top, stuffed them in her coat, and let herself out.

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_**and then take a long walk with her**_

Their walk was a silent one; it consisted only of a few brief glances at each other, and the occasional shifting of hands from the pockets. Kim stopped mid-way to blow into her hands. The cool autumn breeze left a cold chill in her. Rukawa stopped too, but to feel the breeze blow through his hair, "It's almost winter," he said. "Mother loved winter." Kim said sadly, and kept walking.

"Katakura," he said as he paced to catch up to Kim. "It's Kim." she cut him off, "No one calls me Katakura," she said almost quite angrily. Rukawa cleared his throat, "Kim," he slowly let the words come out of his mouth. "Whatever it is with your mother, I'm sure she loved you very much." This sensitive comment from a seemingly insensitive and cold person amazed Kim. "Thank you," she whispered, putting her hands around herself, shielding her from the autumn cold.

_**Make sure to impress her**_

It wasn't too long when they finally reached his home. A loud crying could be heard from the doorstep. Rukawa poked his head in the house as if to check if someone was nearby. The crying only got louder. _Could it be?_, Kim thought to herself as she let her imagination go wild.

They entered the house silently; Kim let her body enjoy the warmth of the home. It was almost perfect, except for the incessant crying. "Kaede, is that you?" a matronly voice rang from upstairs, "Yes Aunt Yuki, it's me. I have company," he answered.

A tall, dark haired woman emerged from the stairs. "Hello, dear." The woman smiled at Kim with all the warmth Kim could expect from an older woman. "Hello, ma'am," Kim greeted back, with all the enthusiasm she could muster at the moment. "Toru is in the living room Kaede," she told him "I best be off, I'll see you two later."

**_with a baby,_**

Rukawa walked over to the living room. Kim followed. The source of the incessant crying was a little baby, lying in a cot in the living room. "This is Toru, my baby cousin." Rukawa introduced as he picked Toru up from the cot. Kim's face lit up at the sight of this adorable little baby in Rukawa's arms. The moment Rukawa started rocking Toru, he immediately stopped crying and rested his little head on Rukawa's shoulder. "I baby sit for my aunt a lot."

"It doesn't seem like you," Kim commented. "Mr. Big-shot basketball guy," Rukawa smiled a little at Kim's comment, "And who would think that Miss Daughter-of-a-business-tyrant would walk half a mile to her new classmate's home for dinner?" Kim smiled at this stupid but true fact. "Speaking of dinner," Kim sniffed the air for a whiff of dinner, and came out with nothing. "where _is_ dinner?"

_**your cooking,**_

It didn't take too long for Kim to realize that dinner had not been prepared yet. Rukawa put Toru, who had already fallen asleep, in his room upstairs. When he returned to Kim, who was enthusiastically watching cartoons, he informed her, "Dinner will probably take an hour or so, if you can wait that long. Or maybe we can order in." Kim smiled, "Order in? And miss a meal prepared by Rukawa Kaede himself? You fan girls would DIE for an opportunity like this." Her mockery amused Rukawa even more. "You laugh at me now; wait until you taste my Sukiyaki."

Kim tried her best to help out in the kitchen, although it was rather awkward since she had only been in the kitchen a few times, most of which were spent foraging for snacks at 4 in the morning. It felt nice to be a normal teenager for once, not a daughter of a business tycoon who has hired help for her every whim. She enjoyed the company which she had never been able to get back home in L.A. Kim had always been treated differently because of her wealth. And here she was now, in her classmate's kitchen, trying hopelessly not to burn their dinner, with a classmate who could care less about the contents of her wallet.

_**humor,**_

"Do you know how to crack an egg?" Rukawa asked. "If I say no, do you promise not to laugh at me?" Kim looked down at her feet, clicking them together, trying to keep her eyes away from Rukawa. Rukawa took a deep breath, as if letting out all the giggles he had in his system. "Yes," he finally answered. "Then no, I have never cracked an egg in my life." Rukawa merely smiled, trying to keep laughter from coming out of him. "Here," he held an egg out with one hand, "Try it. Get a fork and smack it _gently_"

Kim reached for a fork, and with much force, smashed the egg open, with bits of egg shell flying everywhere. Her face turned white. "It's okay," Rukawa smiled at her, "next time try to be gentler." Kim was not unhappy though. The loss of blood on her face was not due to her mortification, but to the amount of laughter she had begun to release. She laughed like there was no tomorrow. Rukawa could only watch in amazement at what his classmate was doing. He smiled at her, "You and laughter go well together." Kim smiled back him, "It's been a while."

_**Sensitivity,**_

They ate dinner silently, trying not to make too much noise to wake Toru up. "I haven't had good sukiyaki since…" Kim started happily, but drifted off quietly before she ended. "There's nothing wrong with it you know," Rukawa told her. "I'm sorry, what?" Kim was amazed at this person she was sitting across from. In school he seemed like a person who could care less about anything that happened around him. And yet here he was now, taking care of his baby cousin, cooking dinner, and being sensitive to Kim's memories.

"It's okay to talk about someone you loved." He told Kim silently, "It's good that we remember them sometimes." Kim's eyes widened, swallowed her last few bits of dinner, and Kim wondered to herself if she could tell Rukawa things about her mother.

"She…she passed away when I was seven." She started, "I really didn't know what happened to her, it's like I don't remember. All I remember was how her presence always lit up a room, how she loved cooking and baking for us, how she always managed to make time for her family in between her busy schedule." Kim sighed, fighting the tears welling up in her eyes.

_**And the cute little red dude.**_

Rukawa could only smile at her. It was as if he knew the right timing, because just before Kim burst into tears, he calmed her down, "Toru loves Elmo." Kim looked at him silently, trying to keep her eyes from bursting into tears. She sighed heavily, relieving her grief, turning it into amusement. "Elmo," she repeated, "Elmo." Kim smiled at the thought of this little red guy in Rukawa's home.

"I know how it feels too." Rukawa assured her. Kim said nothing. She helped clear the table and made her way out. "I'm going home." Kim told him coldly. Before Rukawa could respond, Kim had already gone out the door.

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It was a cold night, the wind was mercilessly howling at Kim who was walking home alone. It felt like the rain was going to pour anytime. As the sight of Rukawa's house faded, and her house was no where in sight, thunder broke the silence of Kim's lonely walk. The first drop of cold rain hit Kim's face. _Damn it…_

The rain started to pour as she caught sight of her own home. The cold wind and the cold rain settled itself on Kim's body; Kim paid no attention to the faintness she felt in her head. Her hand felt the cold metal of the door of her home. She walked in, soaking wet, "Miss Kim…" the butler acknowledged her arrival, but she paid no attention to him. She made her way to her room paying no attention to the water that dripped on the marble tiles of her home.

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"It's raining," Rukawa whispered to himself. "I hope she got home okay." He thought of calling her up. He was cleaning the dishes when he realized the Kim had left her phone on the kitchen counter. It was not too late so he thought that he could drop her phone by her house.

His aunt Yuki arrived just after he had finished cleaning up. "I'll just be a minute, Aunt Yuki." He informed her. But just before he opened the door on his way out, to his surprise, two people came in the house.

"Mother? Father?"

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Author's Notes: Well, ho-hum. That's about it for now. Still more to come, so keep tuned in.

Much Love,  
D.


End file.
